Infrared Photography: Getting More Color From Your 720nm Filter

I recently decided to upgrade from my current infrared-converted Nikon D7100 to a Nikon D7200, taking advantage of Kolari Vision‘s Anti-Reflective coated glass (article to follow). In the process, I once again considered my filter choices. Although I had some decent results from a 665nm filter from another infrared conversion house, I was not satisfied with the overall results and had Kolari Vision swap the 665nm out and install a 720nm filter. I always thought the 720nm filter provided the best overall balance of bright white vegetation and false color processing capabilities, but admit suffering from occasional bouts of ICE – Infrared Color Envy. Some of the photos taken with the 590nm filter are… well… rather gaudy. But I have also come across some that are jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

I have occasionally found ways to boost the false colors of my 720nm photos and have seen an extra splash of color from others using the same filter. Before settling on the 720nm filter (again), I decided to challenge my preexisting notions regarding the 720nm’s ability to process false colors. Hence the question: Is it possible to consistently and reliably coax more color from my 720nm IR filter?

1) Background

My current D7100 / Kolari Vision 720nm IR filter combination provides great results, but the false colors are rather limited, apart from the blues. The series below is representative of my standard 720nm processing technique.

RAW File With Custom Lightroom Profile:

RAW File

Here is the image after using my False Color Preset in Photoshop:

Standard IR Process

Here are the settings I used to create this image:

Channel Mixer Properties

As you can see below, pushing the Yellow Slider in the Hue/Saturation Control does very little to the color of the vegetation. Admittedly, I could change the White Balance setting to increase the yellow saturation, but I happen to like this look:

Standard 720nm Process – Yellows Pushed To Max

Here is the final image after a layer of SilverEfex using the Luminosity Blend Mode in Photoshop. I find this look quite appealing for most of my IR photography:

Final Image

2) Infrared Filter Selection

As you can see from Kolari Vision’s filter guide (other conversion companies’ filter examples are similar), fans of brightly colored IR photos will likely opt for the 590nm. There is little to suggest the 720nm might also yield some of the same splashy colors as the 590nm filter. These charts also show the relative ease of getting good whites out of any of the filter choices (e.g. “How To Make Your 590nm Super Color Filter Images Look Like They Were Taken With A 720nm Filter”):

Kolari Vision Filter Examples

Charts such as the one above should always be considered as general guides. Different vegetation reacts differently to IR light. In some cases, it is nearly impossible to affect the color of some vegetation, even after desaturating and boosting the luminance associated with the yellow slider in Photoshop’s Hue/Saturation Control. If you have taken IR photos of evergreens, you know what I mean.

Of course, the beauty of any IR filter lies in the eyes of the beholder, particularly if he/she is paying for the conversion. Each IR filter represents a trade-off (more false color options / duller whites or brighter whites / less false color options). The trick is finding out how to produce the widest latitude of results for the IR filter of your choice and quickly adjust your IR workflow process as needed.

3) IR Frustrations and Challenges

Since I began writing for Photography Life, I have received a few hundred emails from those experimenting with IR photography (including a few from our founder, who later on ended up converting his Nikon D800E). Many expressed frustrations with white balance settings, post-processing techniques, lack of information about a lens’ IR performance, and achieving consistent results under varying conditions. The post-processing frustrations often arise because of the subtleties of working with IR images. You can make some fairly sizable changes in using the Contrast, Vibrance, Blacks, Whites, and other slider controls in Lightroom and Photoshop, without affecting a photo very much. But even small changes in White Balance or Photoshop’s Channel Mixer settings (the two most critical settings for IR processing) can have huge impacts on the final image.

As a reminder, your specific IR results will vary based on a combination of:

Individual camera make/model

Camera sensor

Infrared filter wavelength

Infrared filter manufacturer (there may be variations between vendors)

Whether you shoot RAW or JPEG

Your camera’s processing engine

Lens used (different lenses may react differently to IR light)

Type of vegetation and its ability to reflect IR light

White balance settings

Quality, combination, and wavelengths of infrared and visible light

The steps and sequencing of your IR processing workflow

Because the White Balance and Photoshop’s Channel Mixer settings work with one another and very small changes can have huge impacts, finding a combination of settings (outside the standard Red/Blue Channel Mixer Swap and standard White Balance) that produce desirable results can be challenging and time-consuming. Unfortunately, you cannot judge the results of changing these settings (at least not without some practice) until you have completed your IR processing routine.

Given some people’s frustrations with IR processing, it is not surprising once they have made their filter choice, they develop a set routine for processing IR images within a given range of false color choices (per the “Selecting a Filter” guidelines) and accept the inherent trade-offs depicted by the IR conversion companies’ filter guides. I suspect few but the die-hard IR enthusiasts go back and tinker with a formula once they have found one delivering consistent results.

I use a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop to process IR photos and rely heavily on Presets and Actions because they can significantly speed image processing and make it easier to experiment. I strongly suggest saving Camera Profiles, White Balance, Channel Mixer, Hue/Saturation, and other settings once you find some that work for you. Once you have these various settings stored, you can make minor changes to understand how each affects the overall image quality. And when you find a new variation? Save it as new Preset and incorporate it into another Action.

4) Turning On The 720nm’s Color

Back to the question at hand: Is it possible to consistently and reliably coax more color from my 720nm IR filter? The short answer is: yes. The slightly longer answer is: yes, but it may take some experimentation on your part to develop a consistent formula yielding the results shown below for your specific camera and IR filter.

4.1) The Starting Point – White Balance

The first step is shooting in RAW and having a Solid White balance setting in your camera. The next step is creating a White Balance setting in Lightroom with enough latitude to mimic the White Balance setting in your RAW file (assuming you are using Lightroom for managing your photos). I covered this in a previous article on post-processing infrared photographs.

4.2) The Base Image

Following are the Lightroom settings used to create what I refer to as my “base” image for maximizing the color capabilities of my 720nm IR filter:

Base Image Lightroom Settings

I nicknamed this effect “Southwest”:

Southwest

I am confident if you can process your RAW file to look similar to this one, you can adjust it to achieve the results in 4.3. I know because one of our readers sent me a JPEG file, which I was able to tweak to look fairly close to my Southwest photo. I simply ran my other Photoshop actions and the resultant images looked quite close to those below.

4.3) Modifying The Base Image

The following image was created by running my Channel Mixer settings (above) with some Hue/Saturation presets in a single action against the Southwest base image. I refer to this one as the “720nm Goldie” because it looks very similar to the results from the 590nm Goldie filter:

720nm Goldie

I created this image, “Cotton Candy,” by taking the Southwest image and applying another Hue/Saturation preset. This is another popular look produced by the 590nm filter:

Cotton Candy

I created the last image, “Sour Apple,” by taking 720 Goldie and applying another Hue/Saturation preset. I don’t see this style quite as often, but some 590nm photos feature some very pleasant green tones:

Sour Apple

Thus with a few Presets and clicks, I am able to process the base image in many different ways, limited only by how much time I choose to tinker with each photo.

4.3) Noise

You always need to keep an eye on noise when you start swapping colors and changing hue and saturation. I looked at the histograms and zoomed in quite often to determine if any of the associated changes were negatively impacting photo quality. I was surprised to find this technique did not increase noise levels. Nor did I do any serious damage to the histograms. I clipped some colors, but with infrared processing, I do not typically worry about it. I compared the image quality results with those produced by my standard 720nm processing technique and noticed little if any difference.

100% Crop

5) Summary

Can the 720nm filter mimic the 590nm completely? No. The 590nm filter will produce different results based on it allowing additional visible light to reach the sensor. The 590nm filter will also handle portrait photography much better than the 720nm filter. Can the 720nm filter mimic some of the results you often see with the 590nm filter? In some cases, the 720nm filter will come quite close. Will this technique work for all IR photos? Probably not, but it may work for some.

If you like the traditional false color processing results of the 720nm filter but have an occasional desire to add an extra dose of color to your IR photos, the technique outlined can help, particularly if you are willing to experiment and have some patience.

6) Some Other Examples

Following are a variety of photos I processed and modified using the technique above. As you can see, the 720nm is capable of producing significant false colors:

Related articles:

About Bob Vishneski

Bob Vishneski works in the media software industry and is an avid photographer. He has held management and technical positions during his career in such areas as computer manufacturing, imaging software and document management systems, enterprise systems development, and consulting. Bob rediscovered his love for photography in 2007 as the digital photography movement began to take off. He specializes in infrared photography. When he is not focusing on the challenges of the software development industry, he spends time traveling with his wife, Tanya, and family, golfing, and honing his photography and Photoshop skills. Bob and his family reside in the Pittsburgh area. His work can be found at 500px.

I am shooting a 590nm converted Nikon D600 from “the other guys”. I am quite satisfied with the conversion and agree, the 590nm is better for portraits. I also purchased an external 720nm filter that I can put on front of the lens and shoot in LiveView when I want that effect. Most of my work is subsequently converted to B&W using PSCC and Nik Suite. I do my WB in Nikon capture NX-D which does well with Nikon RAW files. With more colors I have more shades of gray to work with.

I will need to read tour article several more times to fully digest the wealth of information provided. I am intrigues by the different colors you have gotten and wonder if you have tried those different color mixes in Siver Efex to play with the differenctcolor filters and look at the different B&W versions that could result. Or, am I offbase in my question?

Joe, I use SilverEfex to add structure and texture to the photos, much like the Clarity slider in Lightroom. Just like the B&W control in Photoshop, SilverEfex enables you to adjust individual colors to achieve different looks in B&W or Sepia. As with most things, it is a matter of taste. Bob

Maybe in another article maybe you could explain how to take infrared photos. Is it a camera modification, or is it a filter, setting the camera to B&W, higher ISO etc.. and processing. I don’t know I’ve never tried it.

Bob, thanks for a most enlightening article on IR photography. Although I have been shooting IR imagery for about 4 years, it was a learning experience. You have given me some new things to experiment with using my 590nm camera.

I have a number of questions, but one of the ones I am most curious about is how shooting RAW vs JPEG influences the final image. I shoot RAW all the time, so the “question” has never arisen, still I am curious about how it influences the results. I suspect the answer has something to do with the fact that a JPEG image has some “processing” already “baked” into it.

Ron, RAW gives you more latitude for processing. Many of the JPEGs people send me are terribly off with respect to White Balance. I’ve never tried to shoot infrared in JPEG, but I’m sure there’s a way to do it. I’ll have to try it sometime. Bob

Great article, thanks. And some very nice examples as well. I have a question about WB. I’m using a Nikon V1 IR converted camera (720nm) and when I import in LR the WB is way off (everything is pink/red, WB=2000 and Color=-150). I have to import it in ViewNX first, export to Tiff and then import again in LR. I don’t understand why I can’t get it right in LR. Thanks in advance, Chris

Chris, Native Lightroom doesn’t have the Temperature and Tint range to accommodate IR. That’s why the first step in the process (4.1 above) is to create a custom Adobe DNG profile. This “widens” the range of the Temperature and Tint sliders to match the camera’s customized white balance setting you created in your camera. You can also use Camera NX-D to accomplish the same result. Bob

Bob, thanks so much for this great article! I have been bouncing around trying to decide which filter to get. I wanted some latitude for false color processing but didn’t want to sacrifice too much of the classic, deep IR look with ghostly whites and dark blacks. I finally decided that I had better go with the 720nm and your article has now given me great confidence that I will still be able to get, with a little PS effort, some pleasing yellows (and the expected blues) from the 720 filter. Sending my old Canon 7D off for conversion this week.

I am confused about one thing though. To achieve your base image the”Southwest” did you start with an image that had already been through the channel mixer step before applying the LR settings you show, or does the channel mixer swap occur after the LR adjusts? In other words are the LR Adjusts the first step after white balance setting?

BTW, I am a former Pittsburgher and spent many photographic hours in Calvary, Homewood and Allegheny cemeteries. The grave sites are some of my favorites. Bob

Robert, Thanks so much. I started with a correct white balance, and then made all my adjustments in Lightroom to achieve the Southwest image. From there you can use a Channel Mixer swap and/or simple changes in the Hue/Saturation slider. Always glad to hear from another Pittsburgher. These cemeteries are indeed unique. Oddly enough, few people are aware of them or their many beautiful statues. Bob

I have a Nikon D70 IR converted by LifePixel with the Super Color IR filter and the Standard 18-70DX Nikkor lens. Your pictures have motivated me to get back into IR. Would my Nikon D800e be much better if I converted that body? And would my current lens be adequate? I will keep my D750 and Coolpix A for my non-IR shooting. I also have the Hoya R72 IR filter and might try it on my D800e. I am excited. Thank you!

Patrick, Glad to hear you are renewing your interest in IR. Welcome back! ;) While I’ve seen many wonderful IR pictures taken with the D70, the D70 is no match for the D800E. If you wanted to go a bit lighter, you could also use a D7200 with a 16-85mm or 16-80mm lens. I find this an ideal combination I like the DX bodies for IR, because I’m almost always carrying my D810 and my D7200 IR converted camera, and the D7200/16-85mm is a good bit lighter than a D800/810 FX camera with a 24-120mm lens. Let me know which configuration you select and send some links to your photos. Bob

I am wondering about hot spots. For some reason, I have trouble with them from time to time and have yet to discover a “good” process for eliminating them, or removing them in post-processing. I was wondering if you had any problems with them and how you have resolved them in your images and would care to share your experience. Thanks.

Ron, The best way to eliminate them is to never get them. That means selecting and using lenses that perform well with IR light. There are many sites that list how well lenses respond to IR light (including on this website). Some lenses perform well at some apertures but not others. Armed with this knowledge, you can help you avoid those apertures which are known to cause problems with IR. If you do find some hotspots in your photos, you can follow some tricks in LR and PS to eliminate them. In LR, you can select a radial adjustment that changes the white balance and contrast of the center of the image, making it much closer to the rest of the photo. You can achieve the same trick in PS. If you don’t use LR or PS, your options are more limited. If you search on YouTube or Google, you will find a number of tutorials that can help. Bob

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